Local and Virginia Climate News
Concurrent with deploying new, better buses, Harrisonburg’s Department of Public Transportation revealed a new branding. The goal is to increase ridership. Vice-mayor Laura Dent lauded the effort, “Especially getting towards a more active form of transit. Walkable, bikeable transit-oriented to reduce the cars and the congestion and pollution.”
Secure Solar Futures has provided Augusta County Public Schools with two electric ten-passenger vans on a five-year lease. This has allowed the schools to shorten long bus routes and provide students with a shorter ride to and from campus each school day. It has saved the schools more than $1,000 in fuel in the program’s first month of operation alone.
The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission is conducting a microtransit feasibility study for the BRITE bus service area. Microtransit provides flexibility and additional coverage to service areas and can either complement existing routes or replace underperforming fixed routes. Enhanced public bus service helps to cut down transportation carbon emissions.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is launching a $20 million pilot program called the Pay-For-Outcomes program that works like it sounds: landowners are paid only when they can prove significant cuts in pollution, to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
Virginia counties continue to approve massive, energy hungry data centers with little thought given to where and how they will get the power to serve them. Projections are that data center driven energy demands could triple by 2040. Even as local governments woo data centers, many have become hostile to solar development.
Pittsylvania County is considering a request to rezone 2,200 acres of agricultural land for industrial use. The site would be used for a proposed a 3,500-megawatt gas plant to generate power for a campus of 84 data centers. The gas plant and data centers would create significant noise and air pollution.
Our Climate Crisis
The warming Arctic tundra has shifted from storing carbon in the soil to becoming a carbon dioxide source according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The incoming Trump administrative budget director helped craft a roadmap, known as Project 2025, that describes NOAA as “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”
Climate shocks are colliding with everyday life as insurers drop home insurance policies nationwide. The consequences are profound because without insurance, you can’t get a mortgage. Communities that are deemed too dangerous to insure face the risk of falling property values, which means less tax revenue for schools, police and other basic services.
Politics and Policy
Near the end of his term, President Biden announced an aggressive new climate goal of slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 61% below 2005 levels by 2035. The incoming Trump administration is sure to disregard it. Mr. Biden, however, said he expected progress in tackling climate change to continue after he had left office. “American industry will keep inventing and keep investing,” he said. “State, local, and tribal governments will keep stepping up.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that will allow the state to fine the biggest greenhouse gas emitters a total of $75 billion to be paid over 25 years. The money will be used to pay for the damage already done to homes, roads and bridges—and help cover the cost of preparing for increasingly extreme weather in the years to come.
The Montana Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that the state constitution guarantees a stable climate, supporting a group of 16 youth plaintiffs who argued that state support of fossil fuels violated their rights. The decision overturns state laws restricting environmental reviews, with the court citing the “substantial” role of Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions in harming local ecosystems and public health.
The US Department of Energy Loan Programs is racing to get cleantech money out the door as Trump looms. The office helped Tesla get its start and has lent billions to everything from transmission line projects to battery manufacturers. Its future is uncertain under Trump.
Chinese carmakers are exporting inexpensive cars to Mexico and scouting for factory sites as part of a global expansion that, for now, excludes the United States. While Chinese cars are effectively barred from the United States by tariffs that double the sticker price of vehicles, this is still a potentially grave threat to the North American auto industry.
Europe’s push for green technology depends on China’s dominance in the production of electric cars, wind turbines and solar panels. This is creating tension as the EU tries to protect its industries from reliance on Chinese goods. In response the EU has imposed tariffs on Chinese imports and China has responded with counter-tariffs, risking a trade war.
China’s carbon dioxide output is likely to hit its peak this year, five years ahead of Beijing’s 2030 goal. The question is what happens next because China has been responsible for about half of all greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere since the start of this century. Will they allow their emissions to plateau or will they seek to drive them down?
A U.S. Department of Energy study on whether LNG exports are in the public interest found that a single LNG project, exporting 4 billion cubic feet of gas a day, would emit more annual greenhouse gas emissions than 141 of the world’s countries each did in 2023. This updated public interest analysis is going to make it much harder for the incoming Trump administration effort to quickly approve pending applications for LNG export terminals.
Energy
What happens when the wind doesn’t blow or when the sun goes down? This persistent critique of clean wind and solar energy now has a definitive answer. “Batteries take over.” The performance of lithium-ion and sodium batteries keeps advancing as costs drop. Together with existing energy sources like nuclear, hydro, and anticipated advances in geothermal technology, there is a clear path towards cleaning our electricity and energy systems.
This year, the U.S. solar industry is set to break installation records and achieve significant manufacturing milestones—including the return of silicon solar cell production to the U.S. for the first time since 2019. US solar panel manufacturing capacity has quintupled.
Duke Energy in North Carolina is demolishing a coal power plant and will build its largest 167 MW/668 MWh grid battery on that spot. The company recently asked for and received regulators’ approval to construct 2,700 megawatts of energy storage by 2031. That’s a massive acceleration from basically zero.
Massive $200bn new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects could produce 10 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, close to the annual emissions of all coal plants. LNG developers are planning 156 new LNG terminal projects worldwide to be constructed by 2030.
Sodium-ion batteries, in place of lithium-ion batteries, for electric vehicles and energy storage could lead to lower costs, less fire risk and less need for lithium, cobalt and nickel. CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, announced that mass production will begin in 2027.
Food and Agriculture
Extreme heat is making it increasingly perilous to work outdoors during the day, forcing farmers and fisherfolk worldwide to adopt overnight hours. The transition to a nighttime schedule pushes an already vulnerable population into more difficult work conditions that have significant mental and physical health impacts.
Climate Justice
The Philippines is going all-in on mining transition minerals for green energy. This is putting critical biodiversity in the Philippines at risk and endangering Indigenous lands. The country is positioning itself to be a major economic player in the global mining industry.
Canada’s ambitions to transform itself into a major gas exporter rely on building export terminals on Indigenous coastal territory in British Colombia. Some Indigenous communities are welcoming the billions of dollars of investment as an economic boon. Others are fighting it because they fear it will destroy their Indigenous identity and environmental stewardship.
Climate Action
Former President Jimmy Carter is remembered for his progressive stance on energy conservation and production from the 1970s onward. In a now-famous speech from the Oval Office during his presidency, he told his fellow Americans to waste less and turn down the thermostat in an effort to conserve energy. This is exemplified by the 2017 conversion of his Georgia peanut farm into a 1 MW solar farm.
Join the 2025 Polar Bear Plunge Team to “Keep Winter Cold!” Get ready to plunge with the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions! We’re partnering with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)’s 20th annual Polar Bear Plunge and leading a team that will jump into National Harbor on February 8, 2025, for a winter swim. BUTTON: I’m Interested—Sign Me Up!
The youth climate movement is gearing up for the second Trump presidency with a planned change in tactics. They might ease off the mass marches and school strikes, while refining new strategies like focusing on state politics, reducing the use of fossil fuels at a local level, and re-energizing the country to elect climate-conscious leaders.
The international merchant fleet is responsible for about 3% of global carbon emissions and without a quick switch from dirty fuels its pollution is forecast to soar. Some mariners are, therefore, pioneering a comeback for sail-powered cargo ships. Modern tech is spearheading wind’s embryonic revival and the cleanest of the new vessels are almost pure-sail.
There is a legitimate concern that promoting personal solutions to address global climate change lets corporations and governments off the hook. Even so individual and household actions have the potential to produce about 25% to 30% of the reductions in greenhouse emissions needed to avoid the extremely dangerous aspects of climate change.
Google unveiled a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership to “colocate” its data centers with renewable-energy and energy-storage assets. The tech giant and its partners aim to invest $20 billion to build such colocated units by 2030.
Amtrak will put several sleek new high-speed electric trains into service in the Northeast Corridor next spring. They will have an extra car, to carry around 25% more passengers, and will run more often. They’ll also be faster, at up to 160 miles an hour.
A local Habitat for Humanity in Oregon has built about 20 net-zero homes for low-income households. The homes are built on-site by volunteers, with heavy insulation, triple-paned windows, efficient appliances, heat pumps, highly efficient ductwork and solar panels. The end cost is only about $10,000 more than a home that simply meets code.
Heat pumps are the single biggest tool for U.S. households to cut carbon emissions, reduce energy costs, and curb unhealthy air pollution. A host of local, state, and federal policies have been enacted to spur heat pump adoption. Now, advocates are assessing how to keep things going under the incoming Trump administration.
Earl Zimmerman is a member of the steering committee of the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley.
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